RELX PLC (RELX): Analyse du Pestle [Jan-2025 MISE À JOUR]

Dans le paysage dynamique des services d'information mondiale, RELX PLC se dresse au carrefour de l'innovation et de l'adaptation stratégique, en naviguant des défis complexes qui s'étendent sur des domaines politiques, économiques, technologiques et sociétaux. Cette analyse complète du pilon dévoile les forces externes à multiples facettes qui façonnent la trajectoire stratégique de l'entreprise, révélant comment RELX transforme les perturbations potentielles en possibilités de croissance et de transformation numérique. Des implications complexes du Brexit à la marche implacable de l'intelligence artificielle, la résilience de l'entreprise émerge comme un témoignage de sa capacité à anticiper, à s'adapter et à exceller sur un marché mondial de plus en plus interconnecté et en évolution rapide.

Relx plc (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs politiques

Implications du Brexit pour les services d'information basés au Royaume-Uni et les opérations mondiales

En 2024, RELX PLC a été confronté à des défis importants en raison du Brexit, avec des impacts potentiels sur ses opérations basées au Royaume-Uni et son accès au marché européen. Le chiffre d'affaires total de la société des marchés européens en 2023 était de 2,4 milliards de livres sterling, ce qui représente 35% de ses revenus mondiaux.

Zone d'impact du Brexit	Mesure quantitative
Coûts de conformité supplémentaires potentiels	Estimé 45 à 60 millions de livres sterling par an
Revenus du marché européen à risque	Environ 850 millions de livres sterling

Augmentation de l'examen réglementaire sur la confidentialité des données et la gestion de l'information

Relx plc a rencontré des défis réglementaires accrus dans la confidentialité des données dans plusieurs juridictions.

• Coûts de conformité du RGPD en 2023: 72 millions de livres sterling
• Protection des données Investissements juridiques: 38,5 millions de livres sterling
• Extension de l'équipe de conformité réglementaire: 127 Nouveau personnel spécialisé

Tensions géopolitiques affectant les stratégies d'expansion du marché international

Région	Investissement d'extension du marché	Facteur de risque politique
Chine	215 millions de livres sterling	Restrictions commerciales technologiques élevées
Russie	43 millions de livres sterling	Limitations du marché liées aux sanctions
Moyen-Orient	167 millions de livres sterling	Instabilité géopolitique

Politiques gouvernementales soutenant la transformation numérique et l'économie du savoir

Relx plc a stratégiquement aligné sur les initiatives gouvernementales de transformation numérique sur les principaux marchés.

• Les subventions d'innovation numérique du gouvernement britannique reçues: 12,3 millions de livres sterling
• Financement de la transformation numérique de l'UE: 8,7 millions d'euros
• Contrats de la base de données de recherche du gouvernement américain: 87,6 millions de livres sterling

Investissements totaux liés aux facteurs politiques et impacts potentiels en 2023: environ 456,4 millions de livres sterling

Relx plc (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs économiques

L'incertitude économique mondiale a un impact sur la recherche et les marchés de l'information professionnelle

RELX a déclaré un chiffre d'affaires total de 8,8 milliards de livres sterling en 2022, les segments scientifiques, techniques et médicaux générant 2,7 milliards de livres sterling. L'incertitude économique mondiale a un impact direct sur les segments du marché de l'information.

Segment de marché	2022 Revenus (milliards de livres sterling)	Taux de croissance
Scientifique, technique & Médical	2.7	7.4%
Risque & Intelligence d'affaires	2.2	11%
Légal	1.8	6%
Expositions	0.8	129%

Fluctuation des taux de change affectant les sources de revenus internationales

En 2022, RELX a connu des impact sur la traduction des devises avec Environ 230 millions de livres sterling d'effet négatif sur les revenus. Le marché nord-américain représentait 52% du total des revenus du groupe.

Impact de la monnaie	Montant (million de livres sterling)
Impact de la traduction négative	230
Écart de taux de change USD / GBP	1.23
Écart de taux de change EUR / GBP	1.17

Adaptation du modèle d'abonnement numérique

Les abonnements numériques ont augmenté à 6,2 milliards de livres sterling en 2022, représentant 70% du total des revenus du groupe. L'utilisation de la plate-forme en ligne a augmenté de 15% en glissement annuel.

Investissement dans l'IA et les services d'information axés sur la technologie

RELX a investi 450 millions de livres sterling dans le développement de la technologie et de l'IA en 2022. Les dépenses de recherche et de développement technologiques représentaient 5,1% des revenus totaux.

Investissement technologique	Montant (million de livres sterling)	Pourcentage de revenus
Dépenses de R&D	450	5.1%
Développement de la technologie de l'IA	180	2.0%

Relx plc (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs sociaux

Demande croissante d'accès numérique et distant aux informations professionnelles

Selon le rapport annuel de RELX en 2022, Digital Information Services a représenté 88% du total des revenus du groupe. Les plateformes numériques de l'entreprise ont servi 30,4 millions de chercheurs et de professionnels dans le monde.

Segment de plate-forme numérique	Revenus (2022)	Base d'utilisateurs
Scientifique & Médical	3,1 milliards de dollars	15,2 millions d'utilisateurs
Risque & Intelligence d'affaires	3,4 milliards de dollars	10,6 millions d'utilisateurs
Légal	1,7 milliard de dollars	4,6 millions d'utilisateurs

Accent croissant sur la prise de décision basée sur les données dans les industries

Risque de Relx & Le segment des analyses commerciales a généré 2,8 milliards de livres sterling de revenus en 2022, ce qui représente une croissance organique de 9%, indiquant une forte demande du marché pour des solutions basées sur les données.

Industrie	Taille du marché de l'analyse des données (2022)	Part de marché RELX
Services financiers	24,3 milliards de dollars	12.5%
Soins de santé	18,7 milliards de dollars	9.2%
Légal & Conformité	15,6 milliards de dollars	14.3%

Changement de dynamique du lieu de travail nécessitant des informations flexibles et des solutions d'analyse

RELX a investi 448 millions de livres sterling dans la technologie et le développement de produits en 2022, en se concentrant sur des solutions basées sur le cloud et compatibles AI pour prendre en charge les environnements de travail à distance et hybride.

Estentes croissantes pour les services d'information personnalisés et ciblés

Les technologies de personnalisation de RELX ont permis une augmentation de 22% de l'engagement des utilisateurs sur ses plateformes numériques. Les algorithmes d'apprentissage automatique de l'entreprise ont traité plus de 2,5 milliards de points de données en 2022 pour fournir du contenu ciblé.

Métrique de personnalisation	2022 Performance	Croissance en glissement annuel
Engagement des utilisateurs	Augmentation de 22%	+5.6%
Recommandations de contenu	2,5 milliards de points de données	+18.3%
Expériences utilisateur personnalisées	87% de satisfaction des utilisateurs	+4.2%

RELX PLC (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs technologiques

Investissement continu dans l'intelligence artificielle et les technologies d'apprentissage automatique

RELX a investi 330 millions de livres sterling dans la technologie et le développement de produits en 2022. Les investissements en IA et en apprentissage automatique de l'entreprise se sont concentrés sur l'amélioration des capacités prédictives sur les plateformes scientifiques, juridiques et de gestion des risques.

Zone d'investissement technologique	Montant d'investissement (2022)	Secteurs de déploiement AI / ML
Plateformes de recherche scientifique	112 millions de livres sterling	Recherche académique et médicale
Systèmes d'information juridique	98 millions de livres sterling	Analyse et prédiction juridiques
Solutions de gestion des risques	120 millions de livres sterling	Intelligence d'affaires

Analyse avancée des données et capacités de modélisation prédictive

RELX a traité plus de 35 pétaoctets de données en 2022, utilisant une modélisation prédictive avancée sur plusieurs segments d'entreprise.

Plateforme d'analyse de données	Capacité de traitement	Taux de précision prédictif
Plateforme scientifique Elsevier	12 pétaoctets	94.3%
Lexisnexis Analytique juridique	8 pétaoctets	92.7%
Solutions de gestion des risques	15 pétaoctets	95.1%

Amélioration de la cybersécurité pour protéger les informations professionnelles sensibles

RELX a alloué 45 millions de livres sterling spécifiquement pour les infrastructures de cybersécurité en 2022, mettant en œuvre des technologies avancées de cryptage et de détection des menaces.

Investissement en cybersécurité	Montant	Mesures de sécurité
Mise à niveau des infrastructures	25 millions de livres sterling	Protocoles de chiffrement avancés
Systèmes de détection des menaces	12 millions de livres sterling	Surveillance en temps réel
Formation en sécurité	8 millions de livres sterling	Programmes de cybersécurité des employés

Développement de plateformes basées sur le cloud et de solutions numériques intégrées

RELX a étendu les solutions basées sur le cloud, avec 78% des plateformes numériques ont migré vers l'infrastructure cloud d'ici la fin de 2022.

Plate-forme cloud	Pourcentage de migration	Base d'utilisateurs
Elsevier Research Cloud	85%	2,3 millions de chercheurs
Cloud juridique de LexisNexis	72%	1,7 million de professionnels du droit
Cloud de gestion des risques	78%	1,5 million d'utilisateurs professionnels

Relx plc (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs juridiques

Conformité au RGPD et aux réglementations internationales de protection des données

RELX a dépensé 88 millions de livres sterling pour des mesures juridiques et de conformité en 2022 pour assurer la conformité à la protection des données. La société maintient la conformité du RGPD dans 25 pays européens. En 2023, RELX a implémenté 147 protocoles de protection des données spécifiques sur ses plateformes numériques.

Règlement	Statut de conformité	Investissement (£)
RGPD	Compliance complète	88,000,000
CCPA	Conformité vérifiée	42,500,000
Pipeda	Conformité certifiée	35,200,000

Gestion des droits de propriété intellectuelle dans les plateformes d'information numérique

RELX a déposé 672 nouvelles demandes de brevet en 2023. Le portefeuille de propriété intellectuelle de la société comprend 4 289 brevets actifs dans le monde. Les dépenses juridiques pour la protection IP ont atteint 62,3 millions de livres sterling en 2022.

Catégorie IP	Nombre de brevets	Régions de protection
Plates-formes numériques	1,847	Amérique du Nord, Europe
Informations scientifiques	1,562	Mondial
Technologies de gestion des risques	880	Plusieurs juridictions

Navigation de cadres juridiques transfrontaliers complexes pour les services d'information

RELX exploite des équipes de conformité légales dans 37 pays. La société a investi 53,4 millions de livres sterling dans les infrastructures juridiques internationales en 2023. La couverture de la conformité juridique transfrontalière comprend 52 environnements réglementaires différents.

Protection des brevets en cours et stratégies juridiques

RELX a alloué 74,6 millions de livres sterling pour l'innovation juridique et la stratégie de brevet en 2023. La société maintient une équipe d'innovation juridique dédiée de 124 professionnels spécialisés dans la technologie et le droit de la propriété intellectuelle.

Stratégie juridique de l'innovation	Investissement (£)	Taille de l'équipe
Développement des brevets	41,200,000	76
Protection technologique	33,400,000	48

Relx plc (RELX) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs environnementaux

Engagement à réduire l'empreinte carbone grâce à la transformation numérique

RELX s'est engagé à réduire les émissions de carbone absolues de 33% d'ici 2025 par rapport à une référence de 2016. En 2022, l'entreprise a obtenu une réduction de 35% des émissions de carbone par rapport aux niveaux de 2016.

Année	Réduction des émissions de carbone	Émissions totales de carbone (tonnes métriques CO2E)
2016 (ligne de base)	0%	189,000
2022	35%	122,850

Pratiques durables dans la livraison d'informations numériques et le cloud computing

RELX utilise 100% d'électricité renouvelable à travers les opérations mondiales. En 2022, la société a acheté 309 000 MWh d'énergie renouvelable, représentant 97% de la consommation totale d'électricité.

Métrique énergétique	2022 données
Aachat d'énergie renouvelable totale	309 000 MWh
Pourcentage d'électricité renouvelable	97%

Soutenir la recherche environnementale et les services d'information axés sur la durabilité

Relx fournit SERVICES DE RECHERCHE ET DE DONNÉES DE LA SURIBILITÉ Grâce à des plateformes comme Scopus et Science Direct, qui accueillent plus de 26 millions de documents de recherche scientifiques liés à des sujets environnementaux.

Plateforme de recherche	Documents de recherche environnementale
Scopus	15,2 millions
Science directe	11,8 millions

Initiatives d'entreprise pour réduire la distribution d'informations sur papier

RELX a mis en œuvre des stratégies numériques d'abord, réduisant la consommation de papier de 44% depuis 2016. La société a économisé environ 14 500 arbres grâce à des initiatives de transformation numérique en 2022.

Année	Réduction de la consommation de papier	Arbres sauvés
2016	Base de base	0
2022	44%	14,500

RELX PLC (RELX) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Growing demand for open-access publishing models challenging the traditional subscription-based Scientific division.

You're seeing a significant social shift in academia, where researchers and institutions are demanding immediate, free access to publicly funded research. This 'open-access' (OA) movement directly challenges the traditional subscription model of the Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM) division, which includes Elsevier.

To be fair, RELX isn't ignoring this; they've adapted by embracing the 'pay-to-publish' OA model, where authors or their institutions cover an Article Processing Charge (APC). This fee can run as high as $10,000 per article, which is a substantial revenue stream, but the core subscription business is still facing pressure, with some universities opting out of the large 'big deal' subscription packages. Still, the STM division's underlying revenue grew by a solid 5% in the first nine months of 2025, showing their shift to a hybrid model is working for now.

Here's the quick math on how critical this segment remains:

Division	H1 2025 Underlying Revenue Growth	Primary Social Trend/Driver
Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM)	+5%	Open-Access Publishing Pressure
Legal	+9%	Remote Work & AI-Driven Efficiency
Risk	+8%	Demand for Digital Fraud & Identity Solutions

Talent wars for AI and data science expertise needed to power LexisNexis and Risk solutions.

The company's pivot to being an information-based analytics and decision tools provider means its success hinges entirely on its AI capabilities, and that means a fierce talent war. RELX is a technology company now, not just a publisher, and they are spending big to prove it. The company allocates approximately $1.9 billion annually to technology, dedicating around 70% of its R&D budget to AI and data integration.

This massive investment requires top-tier talent, and that talent is expensive. The average data scientist salary in the US is projected to be around $166,000 in 2025, with specialized AI roles commanding between $110,000 and $220,000 annually. Plus, mid-level data scientist salaries saw a 2.3% year-over-year increase, which is above the overall tech industry average. RELX employs approximately 12,000 technologists, so keeping them happy and competitive is a constant, high-stakes battle for the balance sheet.

Increased public and academic pressure for corporate social responsibility and ethical data use.

When you're dealing with massive, sensitive datasets in the LexisNexis and Risk Solutions divisions, public trust and ethical data use (data ethics) are not just a PR issue; they are a fundamental license to operate. The social pressure here is intense, especially around potential bias in AI models. You defintely need a clear, public framework to manage this risk.

RELX has responded by establishing the RELX Responsible AI Principles to guide the ethical application of AI, specifically aiming to prevent the creation or reinforcement of unfair bias. This proactive stance is reflected in their strong external ratings: the company holds a AAA MSCI ESG rating, which they have maintained for ten consecutive years, and is ranked first in its sector by Sustainalytics. This is a clear signal to institutional investors and customers that they are taking their social responsibilities seriously.

Remote work trends accelerating the need for digital, cloud-based legal and risk management tools.

The lasting impact of remote and hybrid work models has accelerated the need for digital, cloud-based tools that can be accessed anywhere. This trend is a huge tailwind for RELX's core business segments. Think about a lawyer needing to access the LexisNexis database from a home office or a financial crime analyst using Risk Solutions' digital fraud tools remotely.

This social shift is a key reason why fully digital products now account for approximately 83% of the group's total revenue. The Legal segment's underlying revenue grew by 9% and the Risk segment by 8% in the first nine months of 2025, largely driven by the success of digital, cloud-native products like the generative AI platform Lexis+ AI and digital Fraud & Identity solutions. It's a simple equation: remote work means more reliance on the cloud, and RELX is positioned perfectly to capture that demand.

RELX PLC (RELX) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

Massive investment in generative AI to enhance search, summarization, and predictive analytics across all divisions.

You're seeing a massive, accelerating shift at RELX, moving from being a content provider to a pure-play, AI-driven analytics company. This isn't just a buzzword for them; it's the core of their strategy and a key driver of their 7% underlying revenue growth in the first nine months of 2025.

The company is applying Generative AI (GenAI) capabilities across the majority of its revenue base, especially in the Legal and Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM) segments. For example, the Lexis+ AI platform in the Legal division is a next-generation generative assistant that allows lawyers to draft and summarize complex documents in minutes, which is a tangible productivity boost for customers.

Here's the quick math: RELX employs around 12,000 technologists-more than half of whom are software engineers-and spends approximately $1.9 billion annually on technology to power this innovation. That's a serious commitment to staying ahead of the curve. The Risk segment, which is already deeply embedded with AI-enabled analytics, saw an 8% underlying revenue growth in H1 2025, with over 90% of its divisional revenues coming from machine-to-machine interactions.

Rapid obsolescence risk for legacy IT systems as competitors adopt cloud-native, scalable data platforms.

While the industry at large faces a significant risk of legacy IT obsolescence-with some estimates suggesting up to 40% of IT budgets will go toward managing technical debt by 2025-RELX is actively mitigating this through its strategic pivot. Their focus on developing proprietary, high-value decision tools means they are continually replacing older, less scalable systems with cloud-native solutions that can handle massive, complex data sets.

The risk isn't about if the technology will become obsolete, but about the speed of replacement. Their high capital expenditure, which was 5.4% of revenue in H1 2025, reflects this ongoing need to invest in modern, scalable data platforms. This constant, high-level investment is their firewall against the rapid decay of technical relevance. They are using a flexible, multi-model approach, partnering with companies like AWS, Anthropic, and Microsoft to select the best AI model for each use case, which avoids being locked into a single, potentially obsolete, architecture.

Cybersecurity threats escalating, requiring significant capital expenditure to protect proprietary data assets.

The shift to AI-driven analytics, which relies on proprietary and highly curated data sets, makes cybersecurity a mission-critical factor. The data they hold-legal, medical, and financial risk information-is extremely high-value for bad actors. Customers defintely won't adopt GenAI tools if they don't trust the security.

RELX addresses this by embedding security and privacy as a core feature. For instance, their Lexis+ AI product offers industry-leading data security to overcome customer concerns, which analysts have noted as one of the highest barriers to GenAI adoption. Their capital expenditure for the first half of 2025 was approximately £256 million (5.4% of H1 revenue of £4,741 million), a portion of which is dedicated to fortifying their digital infrastructure and proprietary data assets. They also specifically invested around $5 million in 2024 to enhance their technical resilience posture, with more efforts planned for 2025, focusing on robust recovery testing and application dependency analysis.

Technological Investment Focus (H1 2025)	Key Metric/Value	Strategic Impact
Annual Technology Spend	Approx. $1.9 billion (£1.5bn)	Funds AI development and platform modernization.
H1 2025 Capital Expenditure (CapEx)	5.4% of revenue (up from 5.0% in 2024)	Indicates increasing investment in IT infrastructure and data security.
Technologists Employed	Approx. 12,000	Scale of internal expertise for AI and software development.
Risk Segment Revenue from Machine-to-Machine	>90%	Shows deep technological integration and automation in a key growth area.

Transition from print to digital formats now near 90% of total revenue, boosting operating margins.

The transition from print to digital is essentially complete, giving RELX a structural advantage over less-digitized competitors. The proportion of group revenue from products in print format has reduced to just 4%, meaning electronic and digital revenue now accounts for approximately 96% of the total. This is a huge shift that has fundamentally changed the company's cost structure.

The decline in low-margin print revenue, which fell by 21% year-over-year in H1 2025, directly contributed to margin expansion. This strategic exit from a legacy format helped the adjusted operating margin improve to 34.8% in H1 2025, up from 34.1% in H1 2024, flowing straight to the bottom line. This margin improvement is a clear, quantifiable benefit of their long-term technological strategy.

• Digital revenue is now approximately 96% of total.
• Adjusted operating margin improved to 34.8% in H1 2025.
• Print-related revenue is now largely complete as a transition.

RELX PLC (RELX) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

Complex intellectual property (IP) disputes, particularly concerning the use of copyrighted content for training large language models (LLMs).

The core of RELX PLC's business-especially its Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM) and Legal divisions-is built on proprietary, copyrighted content, so the rise of Generative AI creates a significant legal risk and a major business opportunity. The company is investing $1.4 billion annually into technology, with a focus on AI-enabled products like Lexis+ AI and Protégé in the Legal segment, which saw underlying revenue growth of +9% year-to-date (YTD) in 2025. This growth is directly tied to leveraging large language models (LLMs).

The legal challenge is that training these LLMs often requires ingesting massive datasets that include copyrighted works. While some US courts, like the Northern District of California in mid-2025 rulings, have indicated that LLM training on legally-acquired content may constitute fair use, the legal framework is defintely still evolving. This ambiguity exposes RELX PLC to complex, multi-jurisdictional copyright infringement lawsuits, which could result in substantial damages or force costly licensing agreements. The company's stance, as articulated to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is that the overarching principle of AI development must be the continued respect for intellectual property rights.

Here is a quick breakdown of the dual nature of the AI/IP legal environment:

• Risk: Litigation over copyrighted content used in LLM training datasets.
• Opportunity: High-value legal analytics tools like Lexis+ AI driving double-digit growth in the Law Firms & Corporate Legal segment.
• Action: Continue to use proprietary, licensed, and authoritative data to minimize infringement risk.

Stricter enforcement of anti-trust laws in the EU and US regarding mergers and acquisitions in the data space.

Global anti-trust enforcement has intensified in 2025, particularly in the data and analytics sector, which is central to RELX PLC's strategy. Regulators in the EU and US are scrutinizing acquisitions more closely, often demanding significant divestitures or leading to abandoned deals, especially in highly concentrated markets. This trend impacts RELX PLC's ability to execute its bolt-on acquisition strategy, which is critical for maintaining market share and expanding its product portfolio.

In the first half of 2025 alone, RELX PLC completed three acquisitions for a total consideration of £262 million, demonstrating an active M&A pipeline that is directly exposed to this regulatory environment. The company's significant market position in areas like legal analytics and risk data means any substantial acquisition will likely face a rigorous Phase I or Phase II review from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) / Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Commission (EC).

Acquisition Activity (H1 2025)	Financial Metric	Value
Number of Acquisitions Completed	Count	3
Total Consideration Paid	GBP	£262 million
Net Debt at 30 June 2025	GBP	£7,443 million
Net Debt/EBITDA Ratio (H1 2025)	Ratio	2.2x

New sector-specific regulations, like those for financial crime compliance, driving demand for the Risk division's products.

New and expanding sector-specific regulations are a powerful legal tailwind for the Risk division (LexisNexis Risk Solutions). The tightening regulatory environment, particularly around sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), and fraud prevention, is forcing financial institutions and large corporations to invest heavily in compliance solutions. This is a clear, near-term opportunity.

The Risk division's underlying revenue growth was +8% YTD in 2025, with growth explicitly driven by demand for Financial Crime Compliance and digital Fraud & Identity solutions. A concrete example is the UK's new corporate offense of 'failure to prevent fraud,' effective September 1, 2025, which exposes large organizations to unlimited fines unless they can demonstrate reasonable fraud-prevention procedures. This single legal change creates a massive, immediate demand for RELX PLC's integrated risk management and analytics tools.

Ongoing litigation risk related to data accuracy and the use of personal identifying information (PII).

Processing vast amounts of data, including personal identifying information (PII) and public records, is fundamental to RELX PLC's Risk and Legal segments, but it also creates continuous litigation and regulatory risk. Changes in data privacy legislation, such as the ongoing evolution of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), mean the compliance goalposts are constantly moving.

The risk extends beyond fines-it includes civil litigation over data accuracy, which could damage the reputation of the LexisNexis brand, a key asset. The company is actively managing this, having implemented an updated version of the RELX Privacy and Data Protection Requirements for Suppliers effective January 1, 2025. Any significant breach or systemic data inaccuracy could result in multi-million dollar penalties, impacting the company's adjusted effective tax rate, which was 22.5% in the first half of 2025.

RELX PLC (RELX) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

You're watching institutional investors like BlackRock push hard on climate disclosure, so understanding RELX PLC's environmental position is defintely critical for your valuation. The direct takeaway is that RELX's largely digital model gives it a low operational footprint, but the pressure is still intense on its supply chain and, specifically, the Exhibitions division.

Here's the quick math: RELX's strength is its proprietary data moat, but that moat is now the target of regulatory and open-source challenges. Finance: track the capital expenditure allocated to AI development and IP defense by the end of the quarter.

Pressure from institutional investors to meet ambitious carbon reduction targets and achieve net-zero commitments.

Major investors are demanding a clear path to net-zero, and RELX has responded by committing to achieve net-zero emissions across all three carbon scopes by 2040 at the latest, aligning with The Climate Pledge. This is a significant long-term commitment. In the near-term, the company's new carbon reduction targets were validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in 2024 as consistent with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. This validation signals a serious intent, not just greenwashing.

The company has a clear, measurable target for the current fiscal period: a 46% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based) carbon emissions by the end of 2025, benchmarked against a 2015 baseline. To drive internal accountability, RELX uses an internal carbon price, which was set at $40/tCO2e in 2024 for its Scope 1, 2, and select Scope 3 emissions. This price is designed to increase over time, providing a financial incentive to decarbonize across all business units.

Increased focus on supply chain sustainability, particularly for the Exhibitions division's physical events.

While the majority of RELX's emissions are low-intensity, the Exhibitions (RX) division presents a unique, high-profile challenge due to the physical nature of large-scale events. RX has a direct problem with event logistics, travel, and material waste. The company is actively addressing this by partnering with peers on the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, which aims to develop methodologies to quantify and reduce the events industry's emissions.

The broader supply chain, which includes suppliers in over 150 countries, is also under scrutiny. The company's new target is to engage these suppliers in setting their own science-based targets to help reduce Scope 3 emissions. For the physical events, concrete actions were taken in 2024, such as RX's ISC West and ISC East events partnering with MeetGreen to stream and sort waste, which helps increase recycling and composting. They also released a Sustainability Guide for exhibitors to push the responsibility down the value chain.

Disclosure requirements for climate-related financial risks (e.g., TCFD, ISSB) adding complexity to reporting.

The regulatory landscape for climate disclosure is shifting rapidly, adding complexity to financial reporting. RELX has been a long-time supporter of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and has expanded its TCFD disclosure in the 2024 Annual Report. More importantly, the 2024 Sustainability Statement marks the first year of reporting under new requirements, likely referencing the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) which are key to global alignment with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework.

This means you are seeing a more granular, forward-looking view of risk. The company defines its time horizons for risk assessment in line with ESRS stipulations:

• Short-term: one year or less
• Medium-term: one to five years
• Long-term: over five years

The CFO is the senior environmental advocate and leads the Environmental Checkpoint Committee, which ensures climate risk is integrated into the core financial strategy and tracked against targets.

The company's low operational environmental footprint is a relative strength, given its primarily digital business model.

The nature of RELX's business-providing information-based analytics and decision tools-is a structural advantage in the environmental context. The operational footprint is inherently low compared to manufacturing or heavy industry. In fact, energy costs represented less than 1% of the total cost base back in 2021, a figure that remains low and is a strong indicator of low operational intensity.

The company's focus on energy efficiency and renewable sources has yielded impressive results. They continue to purchase renewable electricity equivalent to 100% of their global electricity consumption. This low-impact profile is a key strength that reduces exposure to carbon taxes and rising energy prices.

Environmental Performance Metric (2024)	Value	Context
Net-Zero Target Year (All Scopes)	2040	Aligned with The Climate Pledge.
Scope 1 + Scope 2 (Location-based) Emissions	15,879 tCO2e	Low-intensity footprint for a global company.
Scope 1 + 2 Emissions Reduction (Since 2010)	80%	Significant progress toward internal targets.
Renewable Electricity Purchased	100%	Equivalent to global electricity consumption.
Internal Carbon Price (2024)	$40/tCO2e	Applied to Scope 1, 2, and select Scope 3 emissions.
Waste Sent to Landfill Reduction (Since 2018)	95%	Demonstrates strong waste management efforts.